A story about cats and dogs
by Zealythe
Summary: Well... A scary story about Elena and Reno not getting along. That's pretty much all I can say. First attempt to write a fic. Please be gentle, I'm young and unprofessional. ON HOLD
1. Prologue

A/N: Don't even ask me how I came up with this crap... Anyways, first fic in english. First fic, actually... so be gentle!

Disclaimer: Own them? Nope. But owe them? Definately.

* * *

A story about Cats and Dogs 

Prologue

This story is about two Turks. Two Turks that hate each other, and probably will continue hating each other 'til the day they kill each other. Elena and Reno. She hated him from the day she became a Turk. He saw her as an opportunity to get laid, but when he realized that she didn't like him that much (after she slapped him in front of everyone), he decided that he didn't like her that much either.

Since that day it's always been the same. And it continued getting worse. Sometimes, Turks would show up at work all bruised and wounded after a mission. With Reno and Elena… it was a bit different. They would show up at work, sparkling (not Reno), and _then_ get bruises and wounds. From each other. And then, all beaten up, they would take care of their mission.

Rumour has it, that they've received many odd looks from their victims.

You would think they're only playing, like kittens do. But, no. This was more like a battle between cats and dogs. Their "arguing", as Rude called it, would always end with scars, and sometimes even hospitals. Hate wasn't even the right word when it came to these two. The word I'm looking for doesn't even exist yet.

Every day was the same. Name calling and ass kicking.

Everyone prayed for someone to step in and do something with those two, because, honestly, they were getting pretty sick of it. Even though in the beginning, they found it very entertaining.

But those who prayed for something to tear those two apart would never step in themselves. Reason? Fear. Fear of getting their heads ripped off if they got in their way.

But everyone knew that something had to be done… Before they killed each other, which probably would happen soon. Very soon.

* * *

A/N: Okay, don't kill me yet. This is a prologue. And even though it sucks, please spare my life. 


	2. Cats and Dogs

A/N: Chapter one... I'm sorry, I don't even know what I'm doing! Rated T, just in case, for Reno's big mouth.

* * *

Chapter 1

"Enough!" Tseng shouted. "What is wrong with you two?" Elena and Reno sat in Tseng's office, each in their chair, looking at their slightly pissed off boss, that was standing now. He stared at them, too frustrated to say anything. And they just sat there. Elena, pressing a bag of ice against her jaw, and Reno, who was now wiping the blood off of his face with a wet towel. They both looked down, feeling guilty.

After a while, he continued "Turks kill people they're assigned to kill. Not each other!" He switched from looking at Elena to looking at Reno. "And I don't remember telling you two to kill each other." Elena was surprised to hear the usually calm Turk raise his voice. It did happen once, though, when Reno broke two windows while chasing Elena down the corridor. But that was the one and only time she remembered him raise his voice.

"She started it…" Reno mumbled while wiping blood away from his lip. Elena heard that and shot him a hostile look. "I don't care who started it. One of you always starts it." Tseng was clearly annoyed, since this wasn't the first time this week that they'd started fighting. In Rude's office. It happened on Monday. It was still Monday…

"Twice in _one_ day is a bit extreme, don't you think? It's starting to look like a habit." Both Reno and Elena looked confused. They've been doing this for almost three years. _Now_ it was starting to look like a habit? And the way he said it, made it sound like they were enjoying beating each other up and having to face each other every single day.

"You two have to do something about it soon. We're all getting very sick of it. You're the only people who can fix this."

"Excuse me, sir…" Elena started. "I tried to do something about it! Today!" She shot her hands in the air, looking at Tseng as if the whole thing was his fault. "But you grabbed the gun out of my hand before I could shoot him!" Reno stared at the desk in front of him, wide-eyed, the towel in his right hand stuck on his forehead. Right now he felt like throwing the towel at her, but that would have to wait. If he did anything in front of Tseng, he would be dead. And fired.

Tseng placed his hands on the desk, staring at Elena as if she was insane. Then, completely ignoring her comment, he turned to the other Turk. "If you two don't solve this, I will solve it for you." Reno glanced at Elena. "Yeah… Solve… I can't even talk to her without her starting to-" "Because you never try." She interrupted. "Last time you came near me, you simply filled my bra with your coffee." "Cause you took my beer!" He protested. "The bottle was empty!" she shouted. Both of them flew up from their chairs. "So? Maybe I needed it!" "It was on my desk!" Elena was starting to turn red, because she knew she was right. When Reno realized that, he changed the subject. "What do you need a bra for, anyway? You don't even have anything to fill it with." He said with a smirk. "You wouldn't know that. You've never been there!"

Tseng was starting to feel a bit embarrassed as he watched something that as a 'healthy' conversation, that was supposed to help them figure things out, turn into another pile of words. Awkward words.

"Can you two..?" He started, no longer understanding what they were saying. Seeing that they weren't listening, he gave up and sat down.

"You should really consider visiting a doctor, you know." Reno said after they both calmed down a bit. "But I bet that even he won't be able to pull that giant stick out of your a-" Elena's fist quickly shut him up. You would think that Tseng would react to that. "You little… See what I mean!" He yelled, hoping Tseng would do something, but he wasn't even paying attention anymore. Elena narrowed her eyes at Reno, then sat down, crossed her arms and looked away.

"Uh… Boss?" He tried. "Hey, boss… Sir, are you ok?" Tseng had a distant look on his face. A weird, faint smile appeared on his face. Reno tried waving a hand in front of Tseng's face. "Very original…" Elena mumbled, rolling her eyes. Fortunately it was too quiet for him to hear.

Then suddenly, Tseng looked up at Reno. He signalled him to sit down, and then got up from his own chair. "Okay, you two. I'm giving you one week. I repeat, _one week_, to figure this out on your own. Without hitting each other. Next Monday, if you still haven't figured it out, I will personally help you." He said it with a hint of cleverness in his voice. He was smiling now. And this time, really smiling. He was obviously very proud of his solution. _If_ you could call it a solution…

The Turks just sat there, not knowing how to react. Both of them had a puzzled look on their faces. Reno dropped the towel. Elena's mouth fell open as she mimed 'one week'. She came pretty close to eating the ice bag.

"Now get out." Tseng said. Both of them froze. Then Elena slowly got up and left. Reno got up. He opened his mouth, as if to ask something. But when he saw that pleased look on his boss' face, that was now going through the files on his desk, he figured that there was no point in saying anything right now. He gradually left, not caring about the towel that was still on the floor.

When the Turks finally left, he mumbled to himself, "I really hope you two figure it out. For your sake." He picked up the cup of coffee he had completely forgotten about, and took a sip. Looking at the big bunch of papers in front of him, he smiled again. "Silly kids. They'll never learn." He shook his head and continued looking through the files.

* * *

A/N: Okay, now you can kill me. Pretty OOC, I know... 


	3. How to deal

A/N: Ok, chapter 2. Noticed that I'm missing some words in chapter 1. Won't happen again. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it. I think everyone appreciates it when their stories are reviewed. Cause then you know what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. So, come on, critics! You're now officially allowed to kill me.

* * *

Chapter 2

Elena walked out of Tseng's office and was turned right, planning to lock herself in her office until the week was over. On her way she noticed Rude in his office. The door was open, so she invited herself in, knocking vaguely as she entered the room.

She felt a bit sorry for him when she saw him sit there, in his trashed office. He had a miserable look on his face, and she knew why.

When he heard the knocks, he looked up.

"Oh, hey, Elena! Came to break something? Again?"

He was sitting on his chair, trying to restore a broken ashtray, made of glass, with superglue.

The ashtray broke when Reno threw it in Elena's direction, hitting her in the back of her head (she was in the middle of finding something she could suffocate him with).

Reno was pretty surprised himself when he saw the ashtray shatter, but then again, it was very thin and delicate. And Elena's head is just too thick, as he had put it. Elena just stood there; pretty much conscious, trying to realize what the hell just hit her. When she saw the millio-

The five pieces of glass hit the floor, she eventually fell backwards, landing on Rude's shelf, head first. She then, not surprisingly, took it with her and continued falling. The little shelf broke and fell, along with the books and files that were on it. And one weird plant that Reno had named Hairy Pottie (something Rude didn't exactly appreciate), because it was kinda… Hairy.

When Elena saw the broken ashtray in his lap, she thought that she was going to throw up and faint. She stared at it for a moment, then switched to Rude. He was looking at it, too. Obviously pouting. Her look changed from pity to surprise. She didn't know why he was so upset about a broken ashtray. After all, he only had it because Reno was always in his office. It didn't take long for her to realize that it was just a trick to make her feel guilty.

"Look, Rude… I'm sorry about the ashtray. I hope you don't blame me..?"

Rude looked up, shock written all over him. Then he slowly got up, putting the superglue and the ashtray(s) on the table. She quickly took a step back when she noticed that his left eye was starting to twitch.

"Of course I blame you! Who else would I blame?"

Now it was Elena's turn to look shocked.

"Well, gee, I don't know. Reno, maybe? He's the one who threw the ashtray in the first place!"

"Yeah… After you punched him in the face for saying that you had a pretty necklace."

Her eyes widened. Rude was afraid that her eyes would pop out of her scull.

"Cause it's the same as saying 'hey, I'm staring at your breasts! Hope you don't mind!' "

"No, it's not! He was just trying to give you a compliment."

"Newsflash, Rude. I wasn't wearing a necklace! He deserved to be punched. And why do you defend him all of a sudden? I punched him, not you."

He was now looking at her the way a teacher looks at a student that's done something wrong.

"Elena… His cigarette fell out of his mouth and burned a huge hole in my reports." He picked up three reports and waved them in front of her face. She looked at him through the reports.

"Are you blaming me for the fact that he's smoking, now? I didn't force him to smoke, you know."

"Yeah, but you see… he only smokes when he's stressed. Or when he's just had sex. And I'm pretty sure that it was because of stress, since he'd been in my office _all day, _telling me how much you annoy him."

Elena was looking around the office, trying to think of something to say.

"Well… maybe he humped you behind your back and you didn't notice?"

Rude froze for a minute, adjusting his piercing, hoping that it had affected his hearing.

"No, I don't think that happened" he finally said.

"Really?" Elena asked. "You know, that look on your face says different." She smirked.

He frowned, clearly pissed off, uncomfortable and annoyed.

"That's it, you may go now. I'd like to be alone and think about how miserable I am. Off you go, Walking." He said, trying to wave her away with his hands.

She looked at him, obviously confused. "Walking..?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's your new nickname."

She didn't remember any _old _nicknames he had given her, but decided to let it go.

"Well… what does it mean?"

"You and Reno are a Walking Disaster. So…" He poked her in the chest (not breast. Above that). "You're Walking."

She looked up, thinking the whole thing through.

"Huh… Well, at least I'm walking." She chuckled.

"Yeah. And while you're at it, I would really appreciate it if you _walked _out of my office, before you break anything else."

"Ok. Got it." She said, turning around and walking out of the tornado-hit office.

* * *

As she _walked_ out of Rude's office, she decided that she deserved some coffee.

She grabbed a sandwich on her way to the coffee machine, to stop the sounds that came out of her stomach and made her co-workers turn around.

While she was waiting for the coffee machine to fill up the paper cup, she thought about what Tseng had told them a minute ago.

'One week? He must be kidding… Reno will never be able to keep his big mouth shut for a week.'

* * *

A/N: Finished? Good. You're welcome to review :) Chapter 3 coming up soon. 


	4. Getting along

**A/N: Okay! I'm back. This week has been so terrible (or was it two weeks? anyways). I wrote the third chapter long time ago, but I didn't like it at all. And then I had the biggest writers block ever. Now I've rewritten it several times, but I still can't say that I like it. All I can say, is that this is a tough bit. I'll just have to work through it...**

* * *

Chapter 3

Reno stepped out of Tseng's office and carefully closed the door. When he turned to his right, he saw Elena walk away, about three doors away from him. She didn't turn around, and for that he was glad. She probably didn't hear him. Or maybe she did, but didn't turn around knowing it was him. Either way, he was glad. She had obviously been in Rude's office. He was about to go there himself, but then he heard something that sounded like a hammer and decided that this was probably not the best time to visit Rude. Unless you like accessories. In this case, a hammer sticking out of your brain.

But then again, Reno was always known for taking chances.

He pushed the door open and froze. His eyes widened. In front of him stood Rude, in his shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a hammer in his hand, trying to fix that poor shelf that Elena had pulled down. At first, Rude didn't notice the redhead in his office, but quickly turned around when he heard someone giggling behind him. Rude frowned, hands still holding a piece of the shelf and pressing it to the wall. Reno leaned at the doorframe while his giggle turned into a somewhat hysterical laughter.

"Come on, it's not that funny…" Rude said, hoping Reno would stop laughing.

Reno gasped for air waving his hands. He tried to stop, but didn't succeed. If only he had a camera right now. He tried to press out something that sounded like 'I can't breathe', before he sunk to the floor.

"Well, at least you're wiping my floor. That's very kind of you…"

When Rude realized that he needed help to stop laughing, he slowly went towards Reno and threatened him with the hammer.

"Okay, okay! I'm done." He said swiftly. He pulled himself up and looked at Rude, chuckling slightly.

Rude sat on the edge of his desk.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, you know." Reno said, looking at the desk. "That thing may collapse any second."

Rude looked at it. The desk started making strange sounds as if it really _was_ going to collapse. He decided that he shouldn't take any chances and quickly got up.

"What do you want?" Rude asked as he crossed his arms. He still had the hammer in his hand, ready to wipe that grin off of Reno's face.

"Nothing. Just came to, uh…" he looked around. "visit you, see if you're alright…" he took one step to the left. It looked like that ceiling would hit him in the head any second. But when he thought about it, he couldn't remember them doing anything to the _ceiling_.

"Really? Well, I'm fine, thank you very much. See ya. Hopefully not so soon." He said. "Oh, and by the way, you didn't seem to worry about me when you were trashing my office."

"Well, I… c'mon, Rude. I just- she was there and I…" Reno felt like he should've said something better than that, but he couldn't think of anything. Anything but that hammer.

Reno was about to open the door and leave when a thought hit him. Or at least he thought it was a thought… for all he knew, it could've been a piece of the ceiling.

"Well… I'm going to go grab a sandwich, or something. Wan anything?" okay, so it wasn't the best thing he could've said, but at least he said something, right?

"Aww… How thoughtful." Sarcastic bastard. "Get out." Reno was now fearing that hammer more than ever, and decided that it was time to leave.

"Ok… I'll bring you something relaxing. Maybe tea." he said, trying to hide the fact that he was scared of Rude. "And a sleeping pill…" he mumbled, making sure that Rude didn't hear it. That must've been the first time he feared him. That was the first time he feared anyone, actually. He figured that he must've been (a _little_ bit) scared, because he knew what Rude was capable of. A Turk, after all…

"Mmhm, whatever. Bye, bye." Rude said, and Reno started moving towards the door.

* * *

He took a deep breath. 'Next stop – food.' He thought, taking big steps towards the staff restaurant. 'Staff restaurant.' That's what they called it. Reno hated that name. It was a bit too fancy for a place like this. Reno just called it 'a place with free food'. Or… an all-you-can-eat-buffet (he actually tried that once. You don't want to know what happened.).

As he approached the, lets call it, kitchen, he saw Elena. He walked towards her, but tried not to stand too close, just in case.

He examined her from head to toe. She was standing in front of the coffee machine, holding her ready cup of coffee and just staring at it, sort of hypnotized. He took another step and looked over her shoulder.

"Yeah. I cant believe it's black either."

She quickly turned around, looked at the redhead and frowned.

"Funny…" she mumbled. If they were going to make it through the week, she had to stay calm and not let him have the best of her. Her fist.

"Do you… mind?" he asked, waving a hand. He didn't even want any coffee, but he figured he could just give it to Rude later. While she was taking a few steps away from the machine, she was very tempted to pour the coffee over his head. What was wrong with her? He just asked her to move away from the machine she wasn't using, and it pissed her off? Wow… only Reno could piss her off by asking her to move. Maybe it was the way he waved her away? Whatever…

She grabbed her sandwich and went to one of the tables. Finding a table wasn't that difficult considering the fact that the place was empty.

Reno stood in front of the machine. He watched her sit down and pressed a random button without looking. It wasn't like he was going to drink it anyways…

As soon as the coffee cup was full, he grabbed it, took a sandwich and went to Elena's table, found a chair and sat down. 'Without even asking. How rude…' She thought. When she noticed him looking at her, or staring, actually, she put her sandwich down and looked back. She wanted to say something, but didn't know what, so she just looked back. It's not like she asked him to sit there. That's what she should say. But she should be polite. 'Be nice, Elena.' She told herself. But before she could say anything, Reno started talking.

"So… one week, huh?"

Here we go again. He just asked her a regular question, and she was already making a list of insults in her head. Unfortunately, she had to keep her mouth shut. She took a bite from the abandoned sandwich, making sure her mouth was too busy to say anything bad. He looked at her questioningly. "Mmhm…" she hummed, trying to smile. 'Go away' she thought. The little bite of sandwich was now stuck in her throat, and she had to press it down with coffee. He had a weak smile on his face. 'You're ruining my appetite.' She thought again. Then she wondered if he was thinking the same right now. "…And you're already making it difficult." She continued, and watched that little hint of a smile disappear and turn into a 'grateful' look. "Gee, thanks…" he said not even trying to hide the sarcasm.

"Just being honest…" she said. He rolled his eyes. Her eyes widened a bit. Her eyes fell on the table. It sounded like she was apologizing. She shook her head.

"You know what? I think you're right, as shocking as it may sound. If we stay away from each other this week, we might actually be on a weird way to redemption."

"Red…? Whatever. He told us to work it out, you know."

She looked at him. He looked right back at her. Through her, actually. He considered the options, then settled on the one he liked the most. Elena's eyes narrowed. He was smirking, and it looked a bit scary from where she was sitting.

After a while, Reno finally spoke:

"I won't tell him if you don't." Elena opened her mouth. "Hey, Reno..? I actually think we should try this."

"Oh, good! I'm glad that you agree with me. For once…"he smiled.

"Oh, no, not that." His smile faded. "Oh..?"

"I think that we should try to work things out." She waited for him to respond. He looked a bit stunned.

"No, no, Len, you see, if we agree to ignore each other without having to work anything out, it would both save us some time and we won't have to put up with the therapy sessions! Besides, Tseng won't notice a thing… if you play along."

Elena looked at him, trying to place the words in her head correctly. After all, she would like him to understand what she was saying.

"Well, you see… This is never going to stop. You and I…" He noticed that she didn't say 'us'. She was clearly terrified of the word. "If we avoid each other this week, and actually manage not to kill each other, then I bet that we'll kill each other next week." She looked at him carefully, trying to figure out if he understood what she was saying.

He was still shocked.

"Yeah, but then Tseng will probably forget about the whole thing after one week of silence. Can we just try it my way? Just this once?"

She raised an eyebrow, and Reno realized that it wasn't enough.

"…Please?" he felt like throwing up.

"Alright." We'll try. But only this week."

* * *

Okay, so the worst part was over. He was still holding the coffee cup. He figured that he could just give it to Rude, and hope he liked it.

He entered Rude's office. He was now sitting on his chair, going through some reports. Reno noticed that three of them had a huge hole in them. He shrugged.

"Here's your coffee."

Rude looked up, then down at the cup.

"It's hot chocolate." He mumbled, waiting for Reno to explain.

The other one didn't know what to say. Maybe he should've looked at the buttons after all?

"I told you I would get you something relaxing, right?"

* * *

Reno took off his clothes.

'Finally at home' he thought. The only thing he liked about his apartment, was the shower and the bed. Both things were very helpful after a day full of stress.

He put his clothes on the chair by the bed, feeling tremendously tired.

'Elena… I bet that she won't be able to keep her big mouth shut.'


	5. When you least expect it

A/N: Yeah... this took a while. But now it's summer, and hopefully I'll have more time to write. Or less... Anyways, here it is. Please Review! I'm not afraid anymore. P.S: I'm actually gonna start naming the chapters...

* * *

Chapter 4 

Monday, 9:57 am.

Reno. Elena. Tseng's office. Reunion.

"Well, well, well… here we are again. Elena… Reno… Welcome back."

Elena was smiling a bit. Reno was twitching.

"Too bad, you know. So close…"

"What do you mean 'so close'?" Elena shot in.

"You said one week!"

'Silly child' Tseng thought. "I said 'exactly' one week."

"Well, fine. Exactly one week. It doesn't change anything. Sir."

Tseng raised his eyebrows and looked at Reno, thinking he'd have something to say, but the Turk just sat there and listened to the conversation between the other two. All he wanted to know was what's going to happen to them now.

Not getting anything out of the Turk, he looked back at Elena and continued:

"Amnesia, Elena?" he asked.

Her eyes widened. "Am…? No, sir. I'm fine, thank you."

"Good! Then can you tell me what happened 3 minutes ago?"

She started sweating. Was this some kind of a test?

"Well… we were walking to your office I guess?" she blushed.

"No, Lena. That was one minute ago. Reno?"

Did he just say Lena?

"Um…" Reno's mind started rewinding the whole scene, 3 minutes back. A wicked smirk on his lips told Tseng that he remembered the whole thing. And was kinda proud of it.

"Can you share it with us, Reno? We would love to hear it from your point of view."

"I really wouldn't." Elena added.

"Sure! I'd be happy to." He said with a grin. "All I remember is…"

* * *

The Turks were standing outside Tseng's office, waiting for him to let them in. 

"One week. Finally over, huh?" Reno said, trying to start a conversation of pure boredom.

"Yeah, I guess…" Elena answered, staring at the door as if she was trying to summon Tseng out of his office. Come on, Reno could be that annoying? Or boring? He was anything but boring… Well, on with the story.

"Told you my plan would work."

Elena sighed. "Oh, it worked. But how well?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Reno frowned. How well? Who cares! The plan worked, damn it!

"All I'm saying is that we don't know what's going to happen now. I mean, one week, and that's all? What's he going to do with us after that?" Ever seen X-men? Remember the guy with laser-eyes? That's Elena right now.

"Hopefully not fire us" He grinned. "Or you, in that case. You're the one who always starts it after all." Elena was scowling like never before. "By the way, someone should saw off your nails. I still have scars."

"Fuck you, Reno…" she mumbled, trying her best to ignore the firehead to her left.

"Hey, I heard that! And as much as you want to, I'm afraid that there's just no time." Her eyes changed into golf balls. He smirked. That's probably all he ever did. Smirked, grinned, chuckled, slept, drank and smoked. Speaking of… His hand reached to his right pocket and he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He put one in the corner of his mouth and lit it. "But maybe that would solve our problems? You should call me when-" a box hit his head before he could finish. "See! There you go again! What the hell's wrong with you? It was just a suggestion." He could honestly hear her growl. She would start barking any second.

"PMS?" he asked, acting as innocent as possible.

"Asshole." She snarled.

"It's not my fault that you want me! You can't even admit it. Understandable. I mean, I _am_ hot, and you've always been a bit shy…" He said, looking completely serious, while Elena was close to fainting. Her eye twitched as she tried to focus on something that didn't involve Reno or fists. But before she knew it, she threw a 10.000 pound fist in his face (yes, I listen to Wicked Wisdom). It kinda calmed her down, and she had a peaceful look on her face, but she knew he would get back at her. And that worried her. Reno + getting even + Elena never good. Not that it was good in other cases, but when it came to Elena, it was extra horrific. He was about to hit her back, when they heard a man clear his throat behind them. To their terrible surprise, it turned out to be Tseng. Behind them. Not in front of them, in his office, no. Behind them.

* * *

"That's pretty much all that happened before you showed up, sir." Reno finished. 'Sir? Jackass...' Elena thought. 

"Elena?" Tseng asked.

"Hmm? Oh… yeah, I guess that's it." Was all she could say. It was as if she froze. It was completely terrible, terrible.

"My, my… is Reno honest for the first time in his entire life?" he said sarcastically. Elena was about to start crying. Reno just sat there, completely comfortable, looking like an angel. _Looking_ like an angel

"…But that still doesn't change anything?" she asked carefully.

"Oh, that changes everything." He said calmly. "I said one week. When you walked out of my office, it was exactly 09.59."

"Oh, man…" Reno sighed. Elena was furious (sugar-coated ver.). "Yeah, but a couple of minutes doesn't change anything! We made it through one week, that's what you asked for. Just because we got in a little argue, doesn't mean anything!" she said, thinking that her hypothesis made complete sense."…Sir." Tseng just smiled. Reno? He couldn't care less.

"Wrong again, Lena." He did it again. "This One-weeker was supposed to help you. That little 'quarrel' proves that it didn't help."

Elena turned to Reno: "I told you it wouldn't work, you jackass!" "Well, then why did you agree?" he glared.

Tseng didn't get anything, but that didn't have much to say right now. He just sat there, covered by their pile of words. Deja-vu?

"Ohh, I knew this would happen!" Elena cried.

"Well, if you knew this would happen, why in the burning hell didn't you change it!" Reno answered.

"Okay, enough!" Tseng shouted, looking at the pissed-off Turks.

"Let's just get to the point." He went on. 'Oh, so there's a point?' Reno thought. "You had one week, and you didn't make it." Seeing that he wanted them to respond, both annoyed Turks nodded. Tseng made a slight movement with his hand, and Rude came out from the little room behind him. "Now it's time for plan B. A.k.a. punishment." Both raised an eyebrow. "Personally, I like plan B more than A." he chuckled. "So… if you're ready. Rude?" The big bald guy stretched out his hand and dropped two objects down on the desk. That's right. Keys.

"Ugh… We each get a car?" Reno asked. Tseng laughed. To Elena, it sounded pretty evil. Rude just stood there and tried to fight the chuckle in his throat.

"Apartment." Tseng said, huge grin on his face.

"Apartments?" Reno asked again. "Even better!" he smiled, rubbing his hands. He grabbed a key. Tseng continued laughing. "No, no… Apartment." He repeated. Elena got it already the first time, and was now sitting with plates instead of eyes. There was no way he was going to do this. That's pretty much what she said, while Reno sat there like a stupid kid and tried to re-chew the whole situation.

"But… You can't do this!" she yelled, grabbing the armrests to calm down.

"I think I already did…"he responded. Elena came this – close to grabbing 'her' key and throwing it in his face, while Reno was practically choking on his. Rude found the whole thing very amusing. Probably this year's highlight.

Elena's head was spinning now.

Living with Reno? You _better_ be kidding…

* * *

A/N: So, there. Happy now? Already writing next chapter! Review! 


	6. Could it get any worse?

A/N: Hey, I'm back! Thanks toeveryone who reviewed! Huggies Inspires me to write more.Do you know what I've noticed? Remember that old show, Moonlighting, with Bruce Willis? That's like the perfect Reno&Elena! I just remembered it now. Well here's 'Chapter 5 - Could it get any worse?' Review if you wanna say something.

* * *

Chapter 5

'So this is it. This is my – _our _new apartment. What a nightmare… I better wake up soon.'

"Oh my god… somebody pinch m – _oww!_ Reno, what the hell!"

"You asked for it…" He replied and sat down at the couch. A couch. Well at least they had furniture.

So there they were. Rude and Tseng literally_ threw_ them out of the car. The most surprising part was that they had packed all of their stuff. Elena prayed that Tseng wasn't the one who packed her lingerie…

"I like this place! Cleaner than mine…" Reno noted. As if Elena didn't already know that.

"Reno, in case you didn't notice, a dumpster is cleaner than your apartment. If it's still your apartment…"

The place had a pretty big living room, with a kitchen to the left (from the door). To their right, there were two doors. Both lead to two separate bedrooms. Elena couldn't be more thrilled. To the left, there was another door, which lead to a big bathroom with a huge bathtub, mirror and a closet, for towels and other stuff. They didn't have a washing machine, which was fine, 'cause they never had time to wash anything. They just dropped it off at the dry cleaning and forgot to pick it up. Another thing they didn't understand was the kitchen. Who needed a kitchen? Well, normal people, obviously. They weren't normal. They were as far from normal as you could get. But then again if you're Cloud Strife, you're beyond Turk-abnormal.

Right in front of them, was the last door. Out there, was a balcony. It would be completely perfect for Reno's asshole-drunk-nights. It would be his cage. Well, maybe she should set up a net, so that he wouldn't fall. But on the other hand, who cares. To her, it wouldn't exactly be a tragedy.

"Yeah, well isn't this nice." Reno said, flipping through the channels. The TV, according to Reno, was fuckin' awesome.

She just stood there. She had to admit it. The place _was _pretty awesome. And pretty big (thank god). It had to be if these to were going to be forced to live together.

She still couldn't believe that Tseng did this. Unbelievable. Of all the things he could've done, this one was a real head cracker.

She had to admit, the place _was_ pretty cool. And big. Well, it better be if they were going to be forced to live together.

"Two bedrooms… what a pity. We could've had some fun if there was only one, huh?" he gave her that crazy grin. She felt like blowing his head off every time she saw it.

"Yeah, you definitely would. On the couch." She replied. Elena – 1, Reno – 0.

"Sure, whatever. To me it doesn't really matter where I do it, so you can pick."

Crap. 1 – 1.

She wanted to say something in return. Now was the perfect time to humiliate him. But she couldn't find the perfect insult. She searched her whole brain. After a couple of years with Reno, you suddenly realize that your insult list is surprisingly tiny, and is quickly shrinking.

"Reno, you're so…"

'Come on, Elena. You can do it. It can't end here!'

"…homogeneous."

'What the… where did that come from! Oh well, he wont get it anyways. It'll have to do for now.'

"Homo… did you just call me gay!"

Told ya.

"Idiot."

"Hey, don't call me an idiot just because you use weird words."

She took off her jacket and threw it on a chair.

"I'll go unpack." All she wanted to do right now. Was escape. Luckily for her, the house was big enough to hide from him.

"The bedroom to the right is mine. Don't even try to act like you didn't hear me."

She couldn't live like this. She would have to think of something.

She threw all of her bags into the bedroom, then quickly grabbed her keys and jacket and headed towards the door.

"I'll be back in a second. Don't even try to feel at home. I'm not cleaning up after you."

He just smirked. "Whatever. I'll go check out the fridge."

As soon as she was out, he moved towards the fridge, hoping to find some beer, but unfortunately, there was none.

"Clever bastard…" he mumbled, before grabbing his own keys and heading to the store.

* * *

15 minutes later, Elena was back. No sign of Reno, smoke or booze anywhere.

'Did I wake up?'

At the same time, the door behind her opened and pushed her forward.

"Hey there, roommate!"

'Guess not.'

"Where have you been?"

She noticed the bags in his arms. She grabbed one of them and moved towards the kitchen. Reflex.

"I noticed that we ran out of… some things…" he said, hoping she wouldn't check the bags. But it was too obvious. Why else would Reno run to the store?

"Oh my! Beer, beer… beer. A pack of L&M… More beer. What a surprise." She said sarcastically. He hated it when people mocked him, and Elena was very good at it. He eventually put down his bag and grabbed a bottle. He intended to hit he in the head with it, but that would mean; bye-bye perfect bottle of beer. So he decided to empty the bottle's contents before attacking Elena with it.

It was silent for a while. Elena was busy placing the bottles in the fridge, while Reno was back on the couch with his bottle of beer. None of them had anything to say, and Reno started humming '99 bottles of beer on the wall…' Reno felt like he had to start a conversation that would end the torture. Just when he thought of the perfect question, Elena's phone rang.

She searched through her pockets, obviously not knowing where she left her cell, then with a quick movement pulled out the phone and answered it.

"Hello? Oh… h- hi, sir. No, everything is fine."

'Tseng. Too easy.' Reno thought.

"What! Sir, I think you're breaking up. Did I hear you say..? No way! Is Rude there?"

He wasn't even sure if he wanted to know what they were talking about. And he sure hoped it had nothing to do with him.

"Well, may I speak to him? Please?"

Ok, now he was kinda curious.

"Rude, please tell me it's just a sick joke. There's no way I'm..! Yeah but don't you think this is bad enough! … Whatever." She hung up.

"So what's up?" he asked eagerly.

She sighed.

"Nothing… partner."

She could swear she heard his eyes crack.

* * *

A/N: Ok? 


	7. To Kill or Die

A/N: I'm back! Again! Thanks for the reviews, you guys are awesome!

Wow... One chapter last night and two today... Personal record, people.

* * *

Chapter 6

"PARTNER!" lost his mind isn't even the right word. Words… whatever.

"No way. That's just too much." Reno was yanking his hair and circling the couch.

"No way, man!" Elena didn't even care to respond. She had gotten over it quicker than he did, but something told her that he would accept it in a couple of minutes. That's just the way he is. At first he starts panicking, and then he's completely nonchalant, making jokes about it. She was counting the minutes.

She was calm because she had gotten out all of her anger while talking on the phone with Satan and Devil.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE - hey, what did you buy?"

There you go.

"Nothing…" she said, knowing he would check even if she said it.

"Everlast… You bought locks? Don't we have any?"

That funny, little smartass smile was dancing its way through her lips.

"We do. But I'd like to be sure that I'm safe in my own house."

Reno smirked. "Hey, as long as I'm in the house you know you're safe."

Her smile faded. "It's not the thieves or the rapists. I'd like to know that I'm safe in my own house, when _you're_ in it." She started pulling out different gadgets from the bag.

"Since Tseng and Rude planned this, I bet that there are a lot of 'broken locks' in this house. So I bought my own." Reno was examining the objects on the little table between the couch and TV. She even got a fire extinguisher.

"What the hell is this?" he snarled, holding up a familiar device. "I smoke!"

She raised an eyebrow. "So who's stopping you?"

His eyes caught fire. "This thing! It's gonna beep every time I light a cigarette!"

All she could do now was to look innocent.

"We have a balcony… besides I'm not sure where I'm going to place that thing yet."

"Fine!" he barked.

"What's the rest of this crap? Four locks. Why four?" he said in a sharp, strict tone while he was holding up one, poor lock that was developing puppy eyes.

"Well, let's see… One for my bedroom, one for the bathroom… another one for _your _bedroom-"

"Why my bedroom?" he interrupted.

"Because." She said in the same tone he used. "I don't want any accidents."

"Fine. The fourth lock. Balcony?"

"No!" she chuckled. "The main door."

"Ah. Thieves." He said, triumph practically peeking through his teeth.

"Nope. You and 'I don't want any accidents'."

"Ok. Whatever that means." He said, putting the lock back down and heading for his own bedroom. He went over to the bags that were thrown in a big pile in the corner and picked up the ones with his name on.

"You think they wrote the wrong name?" he said, putting on his famous smirk. The bag was small. Looked like a bag for underwear. He loved making her all twitchy, nervous and pissed off.

"No, I already checked." Yeah. The smirk was definitely gone. Have you seen Advent Children? When Yazoo says that Reno and Rude aren't trustworthy, then Reno turns around? That's the look.

He quietly picked up the bags and waddled towards his bedroom. He mumbled something inaudible, but she caught a couple of words like little, nosy and something of a partner. She just smiled and shrugged.

'At least he's not making me unpack his stuff.'

And that was going to be her partner. 'Partner…' She hated Tseng. What about Rude? He'd been Reno's partner in so many years. Didn't he mind? Maybe he just got tired of babysitting Reno all the time. She knew she would.

But partner? Couldn't he be more creative? She hated him from the second she saw him. Well, actually from the _second_ second she saw him. That was when he gave her the smallest gun ever made. Kinda looked like the one Will Smith had in Men in Black. He said that her hands looked thin and pathetic and that she wasn't strong enough to carry a real gun.

Well actually no. He just said that her hands were weak, but that's just as bad, and probably worse. That hate grew even stronger, when he, the same day, said that she was going to be 'trained'. By a Turk. Which, of course, had to be Reno. She didn't recall all of the things he made her do (because she was exhausted to death), but it was something like 'run around Midgar'. Twice. She could also remember 2500 push-ups and his annoying voice, saying things like 'hurry up, turtle-snail', and 'Scarlet could do it better'. That was the worst comment ever, and it was still playing in her head. When she was at about 2494, he said it again, and that was when she snapped. She pulled herself up and yelled 'Can you shut up for one single second, you dim-witted flamehead!'

You should've seen his face. It was funny, but it couldn't beat hers. She was more surprised than he was. Her face matched his haircolor. She thought that she was gonna get fired the same day. So while she was turning more and more purple, he smirked and said something like 'You're brave'. But since it was Reno-language, she didn't remember the exact words.

The sound of a bag colliding with a wall in the other room caught her attention and snatched her out of her thoughts. She found herself on the couch. Fire extinguishers and locks were still lying in front of her. She was tired. Her eyelids were threatening to close any second. She put all of the things that were on the table back in the bag, and carried it to her bedroom and threw it on a little desk that was on her left. She immediately turned around and locked the door before daring to take her clothes off. She would have to unpack tomorrow. She'd do everything tomorrow. Including killing Tseng and Rude, which was obviously on Tseng's side.

Tomorrow was going to be terrible. That would be the day she would really realize that she was living with Reno, which was at the moment snoring one wall away from her.

* * *

A/N: So, are you gonna kill me or let me live? 


	8. Drop Dead Gorgeous

A/N: Hey, peeps! Yeah, this took a while... I'm moving and stuff, so it's kinda hard to keep up. I hope you all got what the apartment looks like! If not, I can probably mail you a drawing of it or something. Well, that's it. Read.

* * *

Chapter 7 

Thirty minutes. Only thirty minutes of sleep. What the hell woke her up? It wasn't the alarm. She didn't have one. She sat up. Was someone walking around the house?

"Reno..?" she whispered.

Not getting any form of answer, she got up and put on a pair of old, black pants and a white tank top. She also grabbed a knife before heading out, just in case. Everyone knew she was quick with a knife. Probably the quickest Turk.

She carefully opened the door, afraid of what she was going to find. But, really, what she found wasn't all that terrifying. There, on the couch, was Reno. With a bottle.

"Hey…" she said, eyes half open, half closed.

He turned his head. "Hi." He, on the other hand, looked very much awake.

"Couldn't sleep." He said raising the bottle. The TV was showing some pictures of women with 30 cans of hairspray in their hair, saying that their hair has never been better after they used this-and-this shampoo.

"Hmm." She replied, nodding her head. She put the knife down. "I just thought that since I can't sleep, might as well celebrate. I got a new apartment, roommate _and _partner." he said, with the most miserable look you'd ever seen. "Yeah. Couldn't be happier myself." She grabbed a beer and sat down on the other side of the couch.

"Ooh… Elena's drinking." He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, tomorrow's our day off." She said calmly before looking up with big eyes. "Don't we?" she asked with a spooked look on her face. Was she wrong? Were they working tomorrow, and she was drinking?

Reno just sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not even gonna bother to comment that. There's just too much I can say about that."

"Gee, how thoughtful of you. Sorry for wanting to have a job." She answered.

"Lena, one thing you have to know about ShinRa, is that you'll never get fired. You're a Turk a.k.a. a professional. They can't fire you. They know no one else will work for them."

"Hmm… guess that makes sense. You've obviously taken advantage of that fact for a long time." She said with a light chuckle.

"Yeah. And I should. Those bastards should appreciate us working for them. If they did, they would've given us a raise, or something. We're so underestimated! Don't they think that if they piss us off, we'll blow _their_ fucking brains all over the wall? Cause we will." He said, looking at Elena's confused face. "Well, I will!" he corrected with a shrug.

Elena watched him in silence for a little while before speaking up:

"Don't you think that if you actually tried to do your work properly and satisfy them, they _would_ appreciate you, and maybe even give you a raise?"

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to be smart?"

Elena's eyes kept getting bigger. "N-no… Why?"

"Sounds like you're siding with them. You're a Turk. You're supposed to hate ShinRa for everything they've done and made you do."

And bigger…

"I didn't say that I was siding with them! I'm just saying that you-"

"What? Suck at my job?"

And bigger.

"No… You're actually surprisingly good at your job. Well, for a drunk, anyways…" she said, turning her head towards the TV.

"Did you just call me a drunk!" he said, his eyes getting bigger this time.

Elena took a sip of her abandoned bottle of beer before putting it on the table, getting up and shooting a quick; "Ook, I think it's time I went to bed…", that sounded like one sentence.

"You just called me a drunk!" he said, slamming his bottle on the table as he got up.

She turned to face him, ready to defend herself.

"Well, Reno, you are! You're drunk most of the time, even when you're on a mission! Just look at you, you're doing it now! I'm surprised you're still alive and can shoot straight." She said pointing at the bottle, and then at him.

He tried to think of something to say, while Elena was hoping he wouldn't smash the bottle in her head. She knew he wanted to. Frankly, she was kinda tempted herself. But Reno wasn't the one she wanted to hit. Right now it was Tseng. The first thing she was going to do on Wednesday, was walk up to him and give him one blasting head butt, inspired by Zinedine "Zizou" Zidane, of course (Great match. History, right there, kids.).

Reno was still blank. The only thing he could say, was:

"You're drinking too," he said, pointing at her half empty/half full bottle (you pick). "But you don't hear me calling you a drunk." He finished. Right now, he didn't look anything like a Turk. He looked like a five-year-old kid that was arguing with another kid about who's dad is cooler.

"Yeah, cause that's probably the only time you've ever seen me drink." She crossed her arms. If Tseng and Reno had seen them now, they would've cut their own ears off for placing those two in the same apartment.

Reno smirked. The suspicious smirk turned into a too familiar crazy-ass-maniac grin, which turned into a teasing and annoying giggle(annoying for Elena that is…) that made Elena feel really sorry for even daring to go in that direction. She used to be such a smart girl…

"Only one time, huh?" Reno asked, trying to press an answer out of Elena, knowing she wouldn't be able to say anything but 'shut up' right now. The look on her face, a terrified bunny, ready to pee on herself, said it all.

That smirk… she could've killed him. No wonder he got away with everything. He was born to be a Turk. Torture was his specialty.

She tried to calm herself down when she felt the tiny bricks of evil anger build up in her eyes.

"Fuck off, Reno." She replied, turning around an walking towards her room.

"Well, Elena… We both know you wanna, but I think that it would ruin out relationship." He said sarcastically. The evil smirk was now replaced with a "friendly" smile, as he put his hands behind his head. Elena's hands were now clenched to fists, but she did her best to try to let it go.

He reached out for the bottle.

"But on the other hand, maybe it will help? We'll get along, Tseng will see that and then we won't have to live together anymore. Cause I know you don't wanna live with me, and I liked my old apartment." He put down his empty bottle and picked up hers. Just leaving the bottle there was such a waste of perfectly delicious beer.

"Buuuut then again, in my old apartment, I didn't have anyone to cook for me, or clean for me, or do my laundry… But we all gotta make sacrifices, right?"

Elena's state of mind was unexplainable. It was just beyond words. She knew he was only doing this to piss her off, which he, by the way did remarkably well. But those words were just mind raping.

"So, what do you say. Take one for the team?"

That was it. Apologies to Tseng. She was very sorry, but he'd just have to understand. After all, this was all his fault.

She turned around, took two steps towards the beer-drinking Reno, grabbed the bottle out of his hand and smashed it across his jaw.

Painful, yes. But he had it coming. I guess you could call that a lesson. Or payback for the ashtray-attack on her head.

Reno was left there on the floor, whining and trying to prevent the wounds from bleeding.

Elena didn't hear everything, but some of the words sounded like 'oww', 'fuck', 'bitch', and 'I'll get you'. But those were problems yet to come. Right now she was just tired and the beer made her dizzy. They'd have to solve this some other time.

"Nite, nite."

She walked away, leaving Reno there to think about what he'd said. A bed has never felt that good in her entire life. Babies don't sleep that well.

* * *

A/N: Come on... don't be greedy :) You know what to do! 


	9. Bang Bang

A/N: Hey! Please R&R. Yes. I've been gone for a while, again. But this time I really have a good excuse! I'm moving. It's really messy and stressful right now, but I'm still writing. When I think about the fic, I have a bunch of ideas, but since I'm not that well at writing them down, they sometimes fade away.

This chapter... Umm... Just read.

* * *

Chapter 8

Reno's night hadn't been that great so far. And it didn't get any better when he woke up, 5.30 am, to the sound of something banging angrily into a wall.

He didn't wanna get up. He didn't wanna _wake up_. Cause right now he wasn't really awake. Just… passed out?

Yeah. He was still on the floor. His head was about to crack and split into 24.587 pieces. God knows how many pieces of _glass _were in his jaw only. A bottle of beer… he had to say, it was the best one so far from Elena's side.

"_99 bottles of beer on the wall. 99 bottles of beer. Take one down, smash it across Reno's jaw. 99 bottles of beer on the wall._ Yeah cheery song." He sang/said while still lying on the floor.

"Shit, I'm bleeding…" he said, feeling a little line of blood sliding down the side of his face. At first he thought that maybe the banging was coming from his temples, since it stopped being so loud. But about 1 second after the thought had passed his mind, which was kinda distracted by the fact that his head was split in two, the loud banging had started again. Unwillingly, this time he had to stand up. He, _sloooowly, _sat up and looked around, looking not so pleased by the company of a drum and chips of glasses in his head. It looked like the banging came from Elena's room. Now, he would usually not even want to go in there without someone pointing a gun to his head. But this time he had to. If he wanted to stay alive, without his head decorating the wall, he would have to do it. Pretty much the same thing, but without the gun.

Well, yeah. He got up and carefully walked towards the door. The banging came from the inside, and he wasn't that sure of what to do, or _think_, really. Cause if someone was in the house, killing Elena, he should just let him/her continue. But if it was Elena… Hell knows what was happening and what would be the consequences.

He shoved the door, not really trying to rip it open, but when, as I've said so many times before, your head is being invaded by these kinds of sounds, it's kinda hard to control your strength. Well, the hammering stopped, but it was followed with a heavy thump on the floor. As the door opened, Reno could see Elena on the floor with a hammer in her right hand.

'Wow, was she waiting for me or something?'

Elena didn't look that pleased. But on the other hand, neither did Reno. His head was getting worse with every second. He rubbed his temples.

"Lena… What the fuck are you doing?" he said with a worried look on his face.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she said irritated. Reno blinked. "You have no idea how many options are going through my mind right now."

Pause.

"Well, for your information, I'm fixing the locks on my door."

Reno was speechless.

"It's 5.30 something. Have you lost your mind?"

"…No!" she said offended.

"Oh, by the way thanks for taking such good care of me. The floor is very comfy! You should try it sometimes!" he said sarcastically.

"Oh, by the way!" she started, trying to sound like him, just to bug him. "Go wipe your face, you're dripping all over the new floor."

He sighed…

"Yeah, yeah…" he mumbled, walking towards the bathroom, on the other side of Elena's room.

'Bitch.'

But before he could walk away, he turned around.

"Are you and Scarlet sisters by any chance?"

"Huh?" was her only response at the moment.

"The resemblance is striking… I mean, the personality! 1st class bitches! You always know how to annoy someone."

Her jaw just dropped. She didn't even bother to get up and kill him with the second bottle of beer, which was still on the table by the way, just waiting for Reno to pick it up and put it in the kitchen for one times sake.

But he wasn't finished just yet.

"The only really visible difference is that Scarlet actually looks and, most importantly, _acts_ like a woman." He should know that he was really taking chances when he said that. "And she fucks." For all he knew, the next thing she was going to do, was throwing the hammer in his head. Still, he turned around and walked away. And she was too tired to argue right now.

"Screw you, Reno. I'm brilliant." She said, after collecting her jaw from the floor and getting up. He _did_ notice that she said screw you, which is pretty much the same thing as 'fuck you', again, but considering what happened yesterday, he decided not to go there.

"And my conscience is… pretty much clean, if you don't count the people I've killed."

He didn't get anything she said. Just looked at her like… Reno.

"What I'm saying is that I didn't fuck my way to the Turks."

"Well, good for you!" he said with a grin.

He continued walking to the bathroom, while Elena got up and put the hammer down, too tired to continue her piece of art on a door.

* * *

In the bathroom, Reno was getting ready to kill himself. 'Oh, no… Look at what she did to you.' Blood, glass and black rings under his eyes. 'I look like a red-haired racoon…'

The sight was awful, and he decided that this morning, the mirror was not his friend. He grabbed a towel, and let it get a bit wet, before he started wiping his face softly. While doing that, he had to pull out some fragments of glass out of his cheek.

'Harsh…'

He was pretty sure he had some bits in his _mouth._

When he was done he washed his face one more time, and "brushed" his teeth. Teeth on the unharmed side that is. The left side was bloody and out of business.

* * *

By the time he was done and got out of the bathroom, Elena was in the kitchen.

"Want some coffee?" she asked kindly.

'Poisoned.' Reno thought.

"Umm… Sure." He answered.

"Good! Me too. Would you make some? I'm gonna go brush my teeth." She said, exiting the kitchen and flying into the bathroom, not giving him any chance to escape from the task.

"Oh, sure…" he said grinning.

He heard the water running in the bathroom, and Elena's voice, going:

"You owe me one, you bastard! That's the least you can do."

Since he could hear her, he was hoping she could hear him.

"I owe you? You're the one who broke my jaw!" he said, sounding like a whiny kid.

The water stopped.

"You offended me!" she yelled through the toothpaste.

"I was kidding! After that much time working in the same building, you should get used to my humour, don't ya think?" he said back.

"Well, 2 years isn't that much, considering the fact that I only saw you in meetings and in the hallways and places like that. By the way, your humour sucks!" she yelled.

Reno was busy thinking. After a while of brain-research, he finally found something to say.

"Don't you mean 2 weeks?"

The toothbrush stopped.

"Excuse me?" she said quietly.

Monday, third week, is when we officially started getting on each others nerves. 'Only in meetings and hallways…' if that really was the deal, we wouldn't have been here right now."

After a while you could hear an 'Ooooh…' from the bathroom.

"I can't believe you forgot. He said, trying to sound teary.

"How can I forget?" she answered. "I still have nightmares."

She came out of the bathroom.

"Aren't you supposed to be making coffee?" she asked.

He leaned on the fridge, looking stupid. Something she was convinced he was.

"Uh, well… I don't know how." He said, smiling, as if it was something to be proud of.

She stared at him for a while, knowing that he was lying. It's a machine. It does everything for you. How hard can it be? But right now she felt like she really needed coffee.

"Fine, I'll do it, but don't expect to get any of it!" he just grinned as she waddled towards the little espresso-maker that Tseng and Rude kindly had placed in the apartment as a note for 'Please don't kill us, we're still your partners!'

"How long have you been trying to install your locks, exactly?"

She grabbed a cup.

"Not long… You woke up about 5 minutes later."

"Aah… yeah, I noticed that you had a hole in your door." He said grabbing another cup, trying not to be too close to Elena. She's unpredictable.

"If you want, I can help you. Cause – no offence – it doesn't look like you know what you're doing." He said chuckling.

She had to smile. She did look ridiculous, didn't she?

"Well, you do owe me… But no, I think I'll do it myself. Who knows what you'll do with it. I got a new one to keep you away, after all! Besides, it has a guide inside…" she said, taking a sip from her now ready coffee. But since it was hot, she burned herself and twitched a bit. He smiled, she frowned. "And I'm not stupid." She walked to the fridge, passing Reno, and pulled out a little piece of ice and held it against her upper, burned, lip. Right now, she looked like an innocent child. 'Who would've thought that she was an assassin, working for ShinRa?' Reno thought, looking at her as if he had just seen a miracle. She actually looked kinda adorable and… lovable from this angle. She looked up at him with puppy eyes.

"It stings…"

* * *

A/N: Yeah! Now you can officially kill me! I don't know how this happened. It wasn't supposed to. It just popped up while I was writing. Bad author! The next chapter is pretty much written, but I'm not posting it yet! Who knows how long it will be til the 10th chapter, right? 


	10. The Ring 1: Wake up call

A/N: Ok, so I couldn't help it! Had to post... Chapter 10 soon to be finished.

* * *

Chapter 9 

"H - Hello?"

Elena didn't mind phone calls. But when people call you at… 3 am (no, not the song…), it kinda gets to you. She had had a terrible day fixing silly locks, and spent the rest of the evening partying and celebrating the fact that Reno said that he would be gone, probably for the rest of the evening. But she didn't feel that well after the little party, and the party's aftermath, was a weird headache, that didn't really hurt but drummed in her head. When she put her hands on her temple, she could really _feel _the pulse through the skin. The only comfort right now, was the fact that she had another 2 days off before she had to go back to work. And if Tseng even _knew_ the definition of the word 'fair' or 'justice', he would've sent Reno to work, while she was at home. But, back to the phone call situation. She wasn't up for a chat. And she would kill anything moving/blinking/walking that called her. But since the phone did neither, she couldn't really do anything other than answering it. Who knows? Maybe it was important.

"Uh, hi. Is this… Elena?"

She blinked a couple of times to make sure she was awake.

"Yeah? Who is this?" she asked, fearing the worst.

"Hi, this is Ted. I got your pal here."

She sighed.

"Wrong number. I don't have any pals."

There was a pause on the other side of the phone, then 'Ted' spoke again.

"Well… he says he knows you. Actually, he says he's living with you… Hold on."

'Yeah, Reno. Make my night/morning worse!' (The /'s annoy me too… But they fit, I think.)

"Christ, lady! Get him out of here, he has a gun, and I'm very worried that he'll shoot my customers!" he yelled at last.

Elena's mind, though, was focused on something else. "You're still open? Geez, don't you people sleep?" she said, shaking her head.

"Ok, what bar?" she asked when 'Ted' didn't say anything else.

"The Bank. And hurry! I think he's about to start smashing things if you don't show up."

Elena popped up. "Your bar is in a bank? What the hell were you thinking? He's not robbing the bank, is he?" she said, frowning. This was obviously Reno's aftermath.

"No… The Bank is the name of the bar. Can you just get here?"

"Oh… haha. I'll be there in a sec." she said before hanging up.

Oh dear God. This was going to be horrifying.

'I'm so tired..!' She thought, falling back on the bed, suffocating both herself and the pillow. She screamed her heart out into the pillow before rolling around and getting up.

"Reno, you asshole. Just wait till I get there."

She got dressed, grabbed her keys, didn't even bother to brush her hair too much, and ran out of the apartment.

Her car was a BMW, 7th. Her favourite car, and of course, black. It was always shiny and clean and occupied a lot of her time.

After about 7 minutes driving, she found it. A big white sign, with red letters written vertically; BANK, and The written on top horizontally with minimal letters, almost impossible to see.

"Who the hell names a bar The Bank, anyways?"

She got out of the car, locked the door and, paralyzed, move towards the entrance. She was about 8 inches away when she suddenly started hopping away fists clenched, screaming: "I don't wanna go i-hi-hi-hi-hiiiiiin!" she continued hopping in circles around herself until a guy, probably Tod or Ted, whatever the guy's name was… She twitched as she heard the door squeak behind her and quickly turned around to see 'who the hell it was, disturbing her privacy like that!' Well, some guy with black, short hair and square glasses, that made his eyes at least 4 times bigger.

"Elena?" he asked. She looked at him idiotically, her hair even more messy from the bouncing, and saying something that sounded like 'hmuh?'

"Are you Elena?" he asked again.

'Jerk, I'm not retarded; I just don't know who _you_ are. Idiot…'

"Ah, yeah…"

He opened the door and expected her to get in, but no. she stood there, wondering if he had seen her jumping around like a purple frog on crack. In a blue suit with weird hair…

"In?" he asked.

She winced "Oh, oh yeah… whatever." She said as she passed him. Maybe to him, maybe to herself.

"So. Where did you put him?" she asked as soon as they were inside. It was a pretty bar. All dark brown-reddish wood, probably cherry, or something.. It had about 8 booths spread around on the left side and the bartender & co to the right side.

"Funky." She mumbled to herself.

"He kinda fell asleep over there… If you could get him outta here without waking him up, I would appreciate it."

The bar was empty.

"Didn't you say that there were other customers here?" she asked looking around for corpses under tables.

"We did. But his gun kinda chased them all away."

'Man, he says 'kinda' a lot.' she thought.

"I'll get him outta here quietly if you show me _where he is._" she said impatiently.

"Well, at first he kinda fell asleep right on the booth over there, but…"

'Oh holy Mako, what a son of a… mother.'

He just wouldn't shut up so she…

"Can you show me where my partner is?" she asked calmly.

The guy was shaking. He put his hands up. He probably even peed his pants.

"R- right, of course. Just please… put away the gun, I'll sh- how you… right away."

"Good!" she smiled and put away her gun as if nothing had happened. He eventually put his hands down. Straightened his black and white sweater (as if that sweater could get any more straight.), and wandered off towards the bartender, who was now wiping the glasses and just smiling at the whole situation. Ted-guy moved behind the table, where the BT was standing and gestured down at the floor. At first Elena thought he was just kidding, in which case she was sure that her gun could make a joke or two as well. She didn't have time for this. But, no.

Right there on the floor, was Reno. All curled up and sucking his thumb.

She raised her mouth and opened her eyebrows, or something. She was tired. About two seconds ago but this sight…

"You put him on the floor?" she asked, not looking away from baby-Reno.

"H- He kinda wanted to…" he answered, fearing that she would pull out her gun again.

"No, no! It's fair." She said with a grin, as she crossed her arms.

"Jackass…" she mumbled. "I guess I should get him into the car, huh?" Tud and the other guy didn't see a reason to smile, but nodded eagerly.

"Just get him the hell out of here… miss."

* * *

A/N: Well? 


	11. The Ring 2: Part 1 Driving Fast

**A/N: Hey, guys. I hae now moved, and, yeah, it took some time. Just so you won't complain, I'm posting part 1 of part 2. The rest will be here soon. I know it's short and probably sucks cause I didn't get much time to work on it.**

Chapter 10

The three of them stood there and watched Reno snore.

"So, does anyone care to give me a hand, or something? Or should I just drag him to the car?"

Silence.

"That might wake him up…" she tried. "Whatever…" Tweed said. "Everyone's kinda left so I don't really care anymore." He said, waving a hand at Reno.

She placed her hands at her hips and looked from Snooze-man to Tide. "Fine." She snarled. She knelt down and tapped Reno on the shoulder. "Reeeno… Wake up, now. Time to go."

"Mmmmph…" he said through his thumb. "Get up!" she yelled.

"No." he said firmly. "Up." She said again.

He blinked a couple of times. "Eyeeenua!" he squealed smiling.

"Yeah, hi." she said, weakly smiling back.

'Just wait till you're sober and we're at home. Won't be as fun, I promise.'

"Yu Caaaaaayme!" he continued.

Elena sighed.

"You need coffee. C'mon, get up." She said, grabbing his arms and trying to pull him up. After a couple of clumsy tries, Reno was on his knees.

"I'll just drag him by the collar, then!" she said sarcastically before getting him on his feet and dragging him to the parking lot. She was gonna give him as much coffee as possible.

In the car, Reno was starting to wake up.

"Oww, shit, my head… That was a lot of espresso, yo."

"Reno, what the hell happened! I thought you said you were gonna meet Rude, or something!" she started. Right now, there were no nerves left to wait till they get home to start arguing.

"Yeah, right… Rude. He's still mad about his apartment, yo." He said, leaning his head on the window and closing his eyes.

"Don't say yo. I thought you got over that phase?" She asked him.

"Never did…" he said with a nostalgic look on his face. "Good ol' times..." He smirked.

"Wait. Apartment? Don't you mean office?" she asked.

"No, I mean apartment." He answered.

"What happened to his apartment?" she asked again.

Reno, now realizing that she didn't know anything about it, said…

"Nothing." With big eyes.

"Well, that's nice." She said, thinking it was best to just let it go. "You're lucky that we don't have to work tomorrow. Drunkass…"

"Are we there yet? Where are you driving?" he asked as he opened his eyes to look around. The lights around them were soothing and calm, but when you're in a fast car with Elena, nothing helps.

"Hey, Len, you're driving in circles, you know that, right?" he wondered with a worried voice. More for himself than her.

She grabbed the wheel angrily and floored it as she grit her teeth.

"I know. I'm trying to get all my anger out so that I won't try to kill you. Cause if I do, then Tseng will kill me."

"Haha… what a dilemma, huh? I have a feeling that you'll kill me if you don't slow down, though…Elena?"

"If you're scared, buckle up, shut up, and let me drive." She answered, showing that she's in total control of both the car and the situation. She didn't even blink.

"Put the pedal to the metal and I'm off…" he sang. It was an attempt to cheer himself up. Which wasn't working, by the way.

"You got a fast car…" he tried. Still not working.

**A/N: so school's starting, and I'm going to a completely new one, I'll still try to write as much as I can. When I started writing this fic, I don't think I knew what I was getting myself into... :P **

**Just hope I didn't accidentally delete some sentences...**


	12. The Ring 2: Part 2 Going Home

**A/N: Hey, guys! Yeah, I know...**

* * *

"Tseng will kill me, Tseng will kill me…" he mocked.

"You like him, don't you?" he looked at her curiously, thinking that he already knew the answer, but she would deny it anyways. He just wanted to see her reaction. And he got one.

She hit the breaks so hard, that if they weren't wearing their seatbelts, they would've ended up in a big puddle on the street. In Junon. That's kinda far away from Midgar, if you're flying out of your car. Still, Reno nearly licked the glass as the car swung around, facing the wrong way.

Surprisingly enough, Elena wasn't scared at all. She just drove the other way.

"Yo, Len!" he tried. 'She's a maniac.'

"You know that what you're doing right now is illegal, right?

I don't wanna die in a head-on! Stop the car!"

"What the hell does Tseng have to do with this conversation, anyways?" she snarled.

"And, for the record, no! I don't like him. Why does everyone say that! I am in no position to like someone, ok? I… admire him, a bit. Maybe. That's all. The guy's good at his job! Doesn't mean I have a crush on him!"

Reno felt that this was the time to change the subject.

"In no position to like someone? What the hell does that mean? No-one's in no position to like someone. Where'd you get that?" he was actually forgetting that they were driving on the wrong lane, but there weren't that many cars anyways…

"Actually, when I think about it, I don't think Sephiroth is in a position to like someone…" he mumbled.

"What do you think it means, Reno?" se said, still irritated by the fact that he brought up their boss in the first place. Now she had o talk to him all the way home.

"It means that I'm an assassin. I work for ShinRa and I kill people for a living. How do you like someone when you're too busy killing potential friends and soul mates?" she asked. Reno was hoping that he hadn't touched a subject he should have left alone, locked in a safe and thrown into the Pacific Ocean.

"First of all, remember. The people you kill can never be a friend or… soul mate." It felt like his stomach was a cheerleader, flipping around in all possible corners of his stomach.

"The people you kill are mean and evil and probably deserve to die."

She had a frustrated look on her face.

"But… no, you see; _ShinRa_ is evil. The people we kill are nice."

Reno sighed. He was torn between two thoughts. Should he continue arguing with her or should he warn her about the fact that if she doesn't pull over, he'll probably puke?

"Len… where do I start?"

He paused.

"Ok, forget about the crap about killing people. Rewind a bit. You're in no position to like someone? What is that crap about?" Elena finally turned the car around, not so gently, and continued driving. Reno wished that he knew where exactly they were heading, but he didn't really know if _Elena_ knew where they were going.

"Haven't you been listening at all? I just told you!" she yelled. The only thing that could save Reno now, was God. He found himself silently praying as he hid his face in his hand and leaned on the window. If he could just manage to fall asleep before Elena crashes, at least he would go peacefully. Kinda.

He wasn't sure if he believed in God, but the second the red light started blinking, he knew that _someone_ was definitely looking out for him.

"What I mean is- shit, we're out of gas." That seemed to wake him up as he pulled away his hand and blinked a couple of times.

'Hallelujah. So there is a God.'

Elena pulled over using the last drops of gasoline that were left, and looked at Reno with a frustrated face.

"What?" he asked. "Like I know what to do. There are no gas stations anywhere near this place. …Whatever this place is." He looked tired, and seemed to be handling the situation quite well.

"Thanks. That makes me feel better." She said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and crawled out of the car.

Reno looked around, thinking that this might be a good time to run like hell, but he knew that that would piss her off even more, if possible. After all, this was technically all his fault.

He got out of the car.

"Do you have your cell? We could call someone." He looked at Elena as she wandered off. Maybe the idea was to walk home, he didn't know. But he knew that home was pretty far away.

Elena started waving her hands all over the place. "Yeah? Who do you wanna call? Every one's asleep!"

"Well, when I think about it, so would we, if you had driven home instead of driving around like a maniac."

Her eyes grew wide.

"So, now this is all my fault? Is that what you're saying? Is that what you're saying, Mr. Drunkfuck?"

Reno was speechless.

"Whoa, that's brutal, don't you think?"

As he was trying to come up with a good answer, he once again felt that he was too sick and tired to go on with this nonsense.

"Just- just give me the phone!"

Elena stood still, looking disappointed. The words 'is that the best you can do?' probably crossed her mind. But after a moment she was desperately searching her pockets and mumbling a whole bunch of 'fine, fine, fine', hoping to find the phone.

"Come on." Reno said. "Your pockets are seriously not that big."

She ignored him and tossed him the eventually discovered cell phone.

Reno rapidly dialed a number and waited for someone to pick up.

"So who are you calling?" she asked.

He just looked at her and smirked. She could hear some noises on the other line, but it wasn't clear enough for her to hear who it was.

"Hey, sweetheart. Did I wake you up?" he smiled.

"Good! Well, get dressed and get your ass down to… here. Lena and I are stuck. No, we're not fighting… barely. I don't know where we are. We're in Midgar, is that information enough for you? Yeah, thanks." End of conversation.

After another moment of silence, Elena managed to press out a few words.

"…What the hell was that?"

"Oh, nothing. Rude's gonna pick us up."

Her jaw pretty much _hugged_ the ground. "Rude? That's who you called? He hates us!"

Reno smirked. "Yeah. But he'll come."

"Fine…" she whispered. That was the only thing she could do. She didn't know what time it was, but something was telling her at it was very early and that she needed to get some sleep.

She found herself a comfortable spot on the hood as a lotus and looked at the stars. It felt like they were mocking her. Sparkling and laughing… she was hoping that they would burst.

"Being a Turk doesn't mean that you can't like someone." He said as he sat down on the ground, leaning on the left tire.

"I mean… I like people all the time!"

Elena looked down at him with a raised eyebrow.

"No offence, Reno, but I'm not sure if one-night-stands can be compared to liking a person." She looked back at the stars, still trying to put them out with her eyes.

'Die, you bastards. Die.'

Now Reno looked up.

"Is that what you think of me? Ouch! That hurts!" he said, punching his chest.

"Whatever, I'm still right." She said, completely monotone. She could see a star disappear.

'One down, 892151307972345836453470376037578354 to go.'

"Yeah, I guess you are…" he giggled.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to help." He said after it hit him that it's not a good thing.

"I know." She said, sounding very tragic.

After thinking a little, he spoke again.

"It's too bad that you don't like Tseng, then. You two would make a nice couple. And you're both in the same biz, so that helps…"

Elena cut him off just before he had started planning the honeymoon with a:

"Reno, don't make me go down there."

He grinned and finally decided to shut up.

Of course, that didn't last and he spoke again after about 5 seconds.

"So where's Rude? Shouldn't he be here by now?"

Elena, continuing killing stars, didn't even want to answer him, but when he threw a stone at her, she got out a:

"He doesn't know where we are, Reno. In fact, we don't even know it ourselves."

Reno looked around, then got up.

"Guess we better find out."

He walked around, examining the place, as Elena was watching him, thinking that he looked so weird right now.

Suddenly Reno turned around, with a surprised/shocked/kinda happy look on his face.

"I know where we are! We can walk home from here! It's just around that corner! Never liked this place, no wonder I didn't figure it out earlier…" he mumbled as he wandered off home.

Elena still sat there with a stunned look on her face.

"Reno, you idiot." Then she got off the car and quietly followed him. Screw the car.

Next stop: home.

* * *

**A/N: Please review! Makes the developing of the story so much easier.**


	13. I forgot

**A/N: Hello... I know. You have all the right in the world to slaughter me, and not even read this story anymore. I haven't updated in... A very long time. Well, anyways. This is technically chapter 11. I think. 11. So... It sucks a bit, cause I don't feel like myself.**

* * *

Chapter 11.

"Pappara… Pappappara… Pappararapapara…" Reno sang. He was now sitting on his chair in his office with his hands behind his head. That's a lot of 'his' in one sentence. Of course, to Elena's joy, Tseng called them the next day and said that they had to get their a- butts to work. The only positive thing about that was that he promised to make it up to them by giving them _two _days off, somewhere in the near future.

-Bang-

"SHUT UP!" Elena yelled from the other side of the door. She had slept for exactly 28 minutes before their boss called. You wouldn't believe the amount of coffee she's had. Even Reno was shocked as he saw her down two cups in one minute.

Reno just laughed. Then, all of a sudden, the door burst open and revealed a not so happy Elena.

"I can't believe you're so happy, you bastard." She sneered.

"This is all your fault!" she said pointing at her face.

He looked at her, dumbfounded.

"Len, I don't think that the zit under your eye is my fault."

"I meant my mood, you idi- Zit, what zit??" She asked, searching the room for a mirror.

Reno sighed, and stood up, trying to exit his office.

No such luck.

"I have a zit and you didn't tell me?!" she shrieked, grabbing his tie.

Reno started throwing his hands around, trying to pry her hands off of his tie before he choked.

"I just did!" he managed to gasp before finally getting her hands away from him.

"Plus, I never thought something like that would bother you." He smirked, straightening his tie, which turned out to be impossible. He looked down at his tie, trying to figure it out.

"I knew there was a reason I wasn't wearing these…"

Elena just sighed, watching her partner hopelessly trying to untie the knot, she decided to help him. At first, he jumped thinking that she was going to choke him, which, normally, she would, but then relaxed a bit. Even though Elena had one hell of a job, she really wasn't that evil.

"I _don't _care. I would just like to know, ya know? Be aware." She said, fixing his tie, which kinda pissed Reno off, because she did it so carelessly, and actually managed to succeed.

"So that I don't run into Tseng… I don't want him to see the giant zit on my face…" Reno mumbled under his breath, only to regret it right away. He immediately felt the tie tighten around his neck, but then it loosened.

Reno looked up to see what had saved Reno's ass. Tseng. He walked by, and Elena let go of the tie, which made Reno smirk.

"Oh, well… I'll have to keep that in mind next time. Note to self: Elena will not kill me as long as Tseng is around'." He said, grinning.

Elena watched Tseng disappear, and as soon as he did, she punched Reno's shoulder.

"Oww!" he yelled, rubbing his shoulder as Elena turned around and walked towards the cafeteria.

"Hey, excuse me, I wasn't quite finished here!" he said, running after her. She just seemed to ignore him, and continued towards the cafeteria. An ignorant Elena always annoyed Reno, and he ran past her, stopping in her way and grabbing her shoulders to get her attention. He tried to ignore the fact that he nearly grabbed her chest, which would be extremely awkward, and eventually painful. Not just mentally, but also physically. He didn't even want to imagine what she would've done, but it would have something to do with his balls and sharp object, he was sure. He cringed at the thought and shrugged it off.

"What?" she asked, getting annoyed with the silence.

"I have to tell you something." He said.

"Yes?" she questioned again, getting even more annoyed with every second.

"I forgot. Two things, actually…" He said, his eyes widening. "As a matter of fact, the first thing I was going to tell you had something to do with forgetting as well…" he stared into the air, trying to remember what he was going to say. He had been thinking about it the whole morning, and now he had conveniently forgotten it.

"My face is up here, Reno." Elena spat, breaking into Reno's thoughts.

"Hu- wha?" he asked.

Elena slapped his hands away and walked past him.

"Oh.. No! No, I wasn't looking at your t- breasts, honestly!" he yelled, reaching for Elena, who stopped and turned around. He noticed that her face was turning kinda red, and her eyes grew.

Reno looked around, noticing that everyone in the cafeteria were now looking at him.

He hadn't even noticed that anyone was in there.

"Uhh, I mean…" he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

Then he just ran after Elena after he noticed that she was no longer standing in front of him. He found her in front of the coffee machine, as always.

"Len, I'm-"

"Whatever, I don't care" she cut him off.

"Can I ask you something?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"It's a free country…"

She grabbed her cup, blowing before she took a sip.

"Why on earth are you wearing a tie?" she asked.

"Huh?" somehow Elena always managed to make him feel like a jerk. "Oh, Tseng told me that Rufus wants to see me, and that I better be wearing a tie. So he pretty much forced me to wear one. It's only for today, don't look so happy." He stated.

Elena sniggered and looked away, her facial expression quickly changing.

As curious as Reno is, he turned his head to see what she was looking at.

"Oh." He blurted out.

Right there, by their side, stood a pissed off Rude. Reno was pretty sure he saw steam escape Rude's nostrils, but chose to ignore it, just to keep himself from losing it and jumping out the window, just to be away from the mountain of muscle that didn't look too sweet right now.

Reno looked at Rude, then back at Elena.

"Hey, Len, I remembered what I was gonna say." He choked.

Elena looked back at Reno.

"Huh?"

"That's what we forgot." He said, looking unbelievably calm, considering what could happen if Rude spoke.

"We forgot Rude. Yesterday. We forgot Rude." He said looking away. H heard Elena mumble an 'oh shit' under her breath before Rude exploded.

"DAMN RIGHT, you forgot me!!" he screamed, and once again, everyone on the cafeteria, although there weren't too many people in there, turned their attention towards the three 'friends' by the coffee machine.

"I was driving around all night- scratch that. All morning, looking for you two imbeciles!" he paused.

"And then Tseng called me!" Another pause. Elena and Reno weren't sure if Rude was waiting for them to say something or not, but they chose to keep their mouths shut.

"I don't care what you do, I really don't." He said, firmly but calmly. "All I ask of you is that you'll stop dragging me into your mess! Don't ever- EVER! Call me again. I don't care if one of you is dying or about to. DON'T. CALL. ME." At that he turned around and walked away slowly, making the whole building shake.

Reno and Elena stood there, frozen, staring at the spot where Rude was standing just a second ago.

"Well, that was… interesting." Elena whispered. After what had happened, all she could manage was whispering. Her coffee turned cold.

"Yeah." Reno answered. He finally tore his eyes away from the cafeteria's exit and looked up at the clock.

"Oh, shit. I'm late. Rufus is gonna haunt my ass down."

Elena blinked at him, and he ran off yelling a 'see ya!'.

"See ya…" she mumbled, getting a new cup of coffee. One that wasn't cold.

* * *

-Time Skip-

* * *

An hour later, Reno ran into Elena's office. His meeting had ended, and he was still alive.

Just as he was going to yell 'Hey, Len, guess what?!' he noticed that she was on the phone.

"Alright." She smiled sadly, as she hung up.

Reno knew her enough to know that it was someone who meant something to her on the phone. And as always, Reno's curiosity won.

"Who was _that_?" he asked.

Elena, not even knowing someone was standing in her office, looked up, making Reno see the sad glitter in them. Were those tears? Was she crying?

"My dad." She said. Her eyes wandered to the streets outside her window.

Reno had no idea she even had parents. No wonder. If you worked in ShinRa, you tended to hide the fact that you had any kind of family.

But he also knew that no man could make Elena cry, not even Tseng had that kind of power. But if _anyone_ could, it would be her father.

"What did he say?"

'Why'd you ask, you idiot? Stupid, stupid, stupid…'

Silence.

'Say something. Do something! Slit your wrists, anything…'

"Happy birthday, honey." She said, turning to look at Reno.

"Uh… thanks, but my birthday is seven months away…" he answered, not really thinking about it. But then it hit him, and his eyes widened while his mouth fell open.

"FUCK!" he bawled, punching the wall.

"That's the second thing I forgot!" he felt extremely guilty and ended up kneeling and 'walking' towards her chair with a puppy-look on his face.

"Happy birthday, Lena… I'm sowwy…" he squealed, grabbing her hand and squeezing it a little.

"It's okay." She said quietly. A smile spread across her face. She couldn't help it. He looked so ridiculous right now. She placed her left hand under her chin and looked down.

"Can you believe it? After so many years, he called to wish me a happy birthday…" she said it all so quietly that Reno could barely even hear it, but the way she said it, he understood everything.

He smiled at her sadly. He felt weird. He could feel something… Something he had never felt before. Was it… Sympathy? He wanted to crack his head open, he really did, but he knew that right now it wasn't an option.

He felt like he had to say something now. And all he could think of was a simple:

"Yeah…" Well, what else was he supposed to say? It's not like he's ever been in that kind of a situation himself. But the way Elena looked at him after he said it, showed that just that one word meant the world to her. She couldn't believe that someone like Reno would actually try to come up with something… nice to say in a situation like this.

She chuckled, nodding a bit. Then she took a deep breath, rubbing her eyes and got up, saying

"Now I'm hungry."

And with that, they headed for the cafeteria to find something to eat.

* * *

**There.**


End file.
